 |
| about us | newsletter | donate | contact us | home |
|
|
 |
|
 Sign up to receive our biweekly email with insights and analysis on building materials and environmental health.
Current Newsletter:
|
 PVC-Related Terms BIOACCUMULATION - means that a substance is fat-soluble and therefore builds up in the tissues of living things. Most bioaccumulative substances, including many formed during the PVC life cycle, magnify as they move up the food chain, reaching concentrations in species high on the food chain that are millions of times greater than their levels in the ambient environment. FACT: Bioaccumulative substances cross the placenta easily and concentrate in the breast milk of humans and other mammals. DIOXIN - a known human carcinogen, and the most potent synthetic carcinogen ever tested in laboratory animals. Dioxin causes damage to development, reproduction, and the immune and endocrine systems at infinitesimally low doses (in the low parts per trillion). Toxicological studies have not been able to establish a "threshold" dose below which dioxin does not cause biological impacts. FACT: When its entire life cycle is considered, PVC appears to be associated with more dioxin formation than any other single product. ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTOR - synthetic chemicals that can interfere with hormones and disrupt development, including PCBs, DDT, mercury, and dioxin. Abnormal disruption of hormones, which guide growth, development, intelligence, and reproduction, can result in irreversible harm, which is passed on to future generations. PERSISTENCE - means that a substance resists natural degradation, builds up over time in the environment, and can be distributed globally on currents of wind and water. FACT: Many of the by-products of the PVC life cycle are now ubiquitous global pollutants, which can be found not only in industrialized regions but in the planet's most remote ecosystems. PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS - According to the United Nations Environment Programme, POPs are chemical substances that persist in the environment, bioaccumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. Global efforts to reduce and eliminate releases of POPs culminated in the Stockholm Convention, a global treaty on POPs, which entered into force in May, 2004. FACT: The Stockholm Convention targets 12 priority toxic chemicals for elimination including dioxins and furans, PCBs, and eight pesticides. PHTHALATE - plasticizers, which are known carcinogens in laboratory animals, and are moderately bioaccumulative and moderately persistent in the environment. Phthalates have been known to damage the reproductive system, causing infertility, testicular damage, reduced sperm count, suppressed ovulation, and abnormal development and function of the testes and male reproductive tract in laboratory animals. FACT: PVC accounts for about 90% of total phthalate consumption.
TOXICITY - the feedstocks, additives, and by-products produced and released during the life cycle of PVC have been shown to cause a range of health hazards, in some cases at extremely low doses, including: cancer, disruption of the endocrine system, reproductive impairment, impaired child development and birth defects, neurotoxicity (damage to the brain or its function), and immune system suppression.
|
|
|||
|
|||||
